“Undoubtedly, the biggest competitive threat to beer brands is the likelihood that drinkers will opt for wine or spirits instead of beer. This presents beer brands with a challenge to attract drinkers who may otherwise select a different type of alcohol. Doing so will, in part, entail taking a few pages from wine and liquor marketers to better appeal to the most likely wine and spirit drinkers: younger consumers.”

– John N. Frank, Category Manager, Food & Drink

This report looks at the following areas:

Can beer brands win over young drinkers opting for wine and liquor?

How can premium brands capture the momentum of craft brands?

Is the craft beer segment a bubble headed for a pop?

The US beer market faces slow volume sales growth and only moderate dollar sales growth in 2013, flattened by competition from wine and liquor brands and a post-recession slow economy. Although an entire generation of enthusiastic drinkers—Millennials—is on the cusp of drinking age, other large demographics—Boomers and seniors—are growing older and decreasing their drinking frequency and volume. This report focuses on these factors, as well as the following:

how age, gender, race, and household income help drive sales

the negative impact of the health implications of alcohol, including obesity

the dominance of domestic beer over imported

how craft beer is influencing ingredients, brewing, and marketing of other types of beer

how off-premise sales far outweigh on-premise sales

marketing strategies of major beer brands

This report also features analysis of Mintel’s exclusive consumer research, including changes in drinking consumption, reasons for drinking less, important factors in beer selection, attitudes and behaviors surrounding beer, and how race/Hispanic origin impact the market. This report also features analysis of the Simmons Consumer Studies, with attention to consumption of various types of beer, consumption frequency, and brand usage.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

Domestic beer refers to all beer from suppliers that began producing beer as a domestic institution, regardless of whether the company is owned by a foreign corporation or beer is bottled outside of the US. While it will be analyzed as part of the overall domestic beer market, the craft or microbrew beer and corporate-owned craft-style beer segment of the domestic beer market is covered by Mintel in Craft Beer—US, November 2012 and will be looked at separately again in Craft Beer—US, June 2014.

Imported beer refers to all beer from suppliers that began producing the brand outside of the US, regardless of which parent company owns the brand or whether the beer is bottled in the US.

This report includes domestic beer purchased for at-home (“off-premise”) consumption (products sold primarily in cans and bottles) and “on-premise” consumption in bars, clubs, and restaurants. However, the primary focus of this report is off-premise beer sales and consumption.

The report covers:

light beer

premium beer

popular beer

super-premium and craft beer

ice beer

malt liquor, which is a type of beer with high alcohol content more than or equal to 5% ABV (alcohol by volume)

imported beer.

While mentioned/discussed, excluded from the main scope of this report is the hard cider segment, as well as the flavored malt beverages segment. Also excluded from this report are no- or low-alcohol beer and products brewed at home from kits or ingredients.

What's included

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Brand/Company

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Data

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* This is a sample representation of the report layout and does not reflect the research included in this report.

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Table of contents

Scope and Themes

What you need to know

Definition

Data sources

Sales data

Consumer survey data

Abbreviations and terms

Abbreviations

Executive Summary

A flat market in search of fizz

Figure 1: Total US dollar sales and fan chart forecast of beer, at current prices, 2008-18

Figure 2: Total US unit sales and fan chart forecast of beer, in millions of 2.25-gallon cases, at current prices, 2008-18